Ready to laugh? Reilly, Nicholson have the films

Comedies released in winter just aren’t as raucous. That warm-hearted holiday spirit seems to infect even the most cynical screenwriter. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as terminally ill patients — you don’t get more heartwarming than that. Which is not to say there aren’t laughs. This winter, John C. Reilly has a chance to become a breakout comedy star. Michael Cera shows that “Superbad” was no fluke, and Jack Black makes two off-beat choices that show he can’t be shoved into the Will Ferrell box.

“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig
Director: Jake Kasdan
Story: This “Walk the Line” satire, which also pokes fun at films like “Ray” and “The Doors,” tells the story of Dewey Cox (Reilly), a musician whose songs changed the nation. Spanning six decades, the story includes a tragic childhood, an unhappy marriage and a June Carter-like love interest (Fischer). White Stripes rocker Jack White appears as Elvis Presley; Paul Rudd plays John Lennon; Jason Schwartzman is Ringo Starr; Justin Long appears as George Harrison.
Buzz: The man with the magic touch, Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) is a co-writer on this one, which means it may be the best bet for a laugh-out-loud winter comedy. Considering the formulaic nature of music biopics (even the good ones), there’s a lot of material here. This isn’t director Kasdan’s (“Orange County”) first time working with Apatow. He directed episodes of “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared.”
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/walkhard/
Release date: Dec. 21

“The Bucket List”

Warner Bros.

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Rob Morrow
Director: Rob Reiner
Story: Corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Nicholson) and mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman) form a bond when they find themselves sharing a room as terminally ill patients. They decide to spend the time they have left doing all the things they’ve never done: From skydiving to climbing the pyramids to riding motorcycles on the Great Wall of China.
Buzz: Reiner’s (“Rumor Has It”) last really good film was 1995’s “The American President.” He desperately needs a hit. It’s hard to deny the acting talent of Freeman or Nicholson — but is this just another version of “Space Cowboys”? Will it be too corny? An early Ain’t It Cool News review indicated that the movie is much funnier than you might expect. Reviewer “Moriarty” wrote, “We both laughed pretty much all the way through.”
Web site: http://thebucketlist.warnerbros.com/
Release date: Dec. 25

“Fred Claus”

Warner Bros.

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey
Director: David Dobkin
Story: Fred Claus (Vaughn) has a lot to live up to. His little brother, Santa (Giamatti) is, after all, a saint. When Fred faces jail time after doing a bit of thieving, his brother bails him out and brings him up to the North Pole. But Fred quickly causes trouble, encouraging the elves to play more and work less. Will Santa lose control of Christmas?
Buzz: Don’t go to this film expecting “Bad Santa”; despite the presence of Vaughn and “Wedding Crashers” director Dobkin, this one is firmly in PG territory. Dobkin told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to “tell a very deep story of acceptance and forgiveness.” Wow, that sounds hilarious.
Web site: http://fredclaus.warnerbros.com/
Release date: Nov. 9

“Margot at the Wedding”

Paramount Vantage

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Jack Black, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Turturro
Director: Noah Baumbach
Story: When Pauline (Leigh) decides to marry Malcolm (Black), Margot (Kidman) and her son Claude (Zane Paris) go to see her, seemingly to lend support. But once the sisters come together, old wounds are opened and secrets are revealed.
Buzz: Baumbach’s (“The Squid and the Whale”) film is already dividing critics. While Variety’s Anne Thompson wrote that “Every minute of it rings true,” the Hot Button’s David Poland wrote that he “could not have imagined how much of a failure a Baumbach screenplay could be” after the success of “Squid.” Though she’s turned in some OK performances lately (“Birth”), Kidman just hasn’t found her post-Oscar footing. Lately, she looks more comfortable in those Chanel commercials than she does on the big screen.
Web site: http://www.margotatthewedding.com/
Release date: Nov. 16

“The Savages”

Fox Searchlight

Starring: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Director: Tamara Jenkins
Story: Jon (Hoffman) and Wendy Savage (Linney) are a brother and sister — both of whom are writers — who must face the realities of how to care for their ailing father (Bosco).
Buzz: This film currently has a 100 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com (based on festival screenings). The Hot Button’s David Poland called it “nearly perfect,” and singled out Hoffman, Linney and the screenplay as potential Oscar nominees. Variety’s Todd McCarthy called the film “superb.” Hoffman may be competing against himself (in “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead”) come Oscar time.
Web site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thesavages/
Release date: Dec. 26

“Juno”

Fox Searchlight

Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Allison Janney, JK Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, Rainn Wilson, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
Director: Jason Reitman
Story: When high-schooler Juno (Page) gets pregnant, she decides to look for the perfect parents for her unborn child, an affluent suburban couple (Bateman, Garner). Cera plays her would-be boyfriend — and the baby’s father. Simmons and Janney costar as her supportive but not completely empathetic parents.
Buzz: This film was the toast of the Telluride and Toronto film festivals and also currently has a 100 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells thinks Diablo Cody’s screenplay will earn her an Oscar nod. Reitman’s “Thank You For Smoking” was one of the best and grievously overlooked films of 2005. Cinematical’s Scott Weinberg was “blown away” by the film, calling it “off-kilter, low-key and wonderfully original.”
Web site: NA
Release date: Dec. 14

“Be Kind Rewind”

New Line Cinema

Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz, Arjay Smith, Paul Dinello
Director: Michael Gondry
Story: When Jerry’s (Black) brain becomes magnetized, he unintentionally erases every tape in his friend Mike’s (Mos Def) video store. In order to satisfy the store’s most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, Mike and Jerry remake the lost films from scratch, recreating movies from “Robocop” to “Rush Hour.”
Buzz: This looks like a lot of fun. Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Science of Sleep”) is one of the more inventive filmmakers around, so don’t expect the standard wacky comedy. It’s refreshing that Black (“Margot at the Wedding”) is so willing to think outside the box when it comes to choosing roles.
Web site: NA
Release date: Jan. 25

“Mad Money”
Starring: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Roger R. Cross, Adam Rothenberg
Director: Callie Khouri
Story: Three female Federal Reserve employees (Keaton, Latifah, Holmes) plot to steal money from the Reserve that is about to be destroyed.
Buzz: Writer-director Khouri (“Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”) goes back to her “Thelma and Louise” (she wrote the screenplay) roots with this story of desperate women who just need a break — although here it’s played for laughs. This is Holmes’ first role since “Thank You for Smoking” and becoming mom to little Suri Cruise.
Web site: NA
Release date: Jan. 18

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